


A Horse of a Different Species

by Scorpius_Wears_Short_Skirts



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Beauty and the Beast Elements, Elf Sportacus (LazyTown), Ha pun, Ithro is Sportacus' brother, Ithro is kind of a dick but means well, M/M, Non-Human Robbie Rotten, but a horse instead of a beast, hes human but doesnt look it, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-12 23:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11747454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scorpius_Wears_Short_Skirts/pseuds/Scorpius_Wears_Short_Skirts
Summary: Sportacus is fairly certain that one of the horses isn't actually a horse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Stephanie is ginger in this by the way.

Most Wood Elves could understand animals if they bothered to listen. Animals were simple and honest. Humans were more difficult, which was why most Elves avoided them. Children were simple but adults hardly ever said what they meant. Tryggvi liked them, though. They were inventive and had made so much just in the past few centuries. He was half human anyway, so other Elves prefered to avoid him. Halflings weren’t treated very well in the Hideaways.

With more cities came less free fruit, which was tricky. Around the beginning of the Twenty-First Century Tryggvi decided it was probably time to get a job that would give him money to pay for things. He didn’t have the attention span for retail and couldn’t bring himself to handle fast food, which posed several problems, but luckily there was a horse ranch nearby. 

The ranch was owned by a balding man named Milford and doubled as a riding camp during the summers. Children could come and learn how to care for and handle horses. Milford had his niece, Stephanie, to help him, but needed an assistant during other seasons when there were no campers and Stephanie had school to focus on. He was getting too old to handle the ranch by himself.

Tryggvi managed to become employed there as a handler, since most of the horses liked him as soon as they smelled him. Unwilling to share his true name, he decided to use the nickname Sportacus. A small glamour on the false name ensured nobody questioned it. He was hired easily and told to come back at dawn the following monday. 

_Blue!_ The horses greeted him when he entered the stable for his first day on the job. _Hello Blue! You feed us? Light outside. Out? Graze? Run with us? Smell like apple._

Sportacus chuckled, filling the troughs with a mixed feed as he said good morning to each horse until he got to the last stall where a beautiful friesian named Brighteyes was lying near the back. He clicked his tongue to mimic a nicker and get the stallion’s attention. The horse looked up at him with striking grey eyes, something Sportacus had never seen on a black horse before. The name on the door of the stall suddenly made sense. 

_That’s such an awful hat._ The horse snuffled drowsily, his ears turned backward in annoyance, then put his head down again. 

Sportacus frowned, caught off guard both by the rudeness and the fact that a horse cared about his _hat_ of all things. Horses rarely cared about clothing past curiosity, and certainly never enough to form an opinion. Most assumed clothing was just tack for humans, or humanoids in the Elf’s case; Something to be worn when there was a job to be done. 

“Awful or not, it’s doing a good job hiding my ears.” Sportacus replied in a whisper once he had recovered from his mild shock. 

Brighteyes’ head snapped up so fast Sportacus could have sworn he felt some sort of secondhand whiplash just from witnessing it. The whites of his eyes shone brightly as he stood, backing further into his corner. 

_You keep away from me, Elf!_ He bellowed, shaking his mane and showing his large teeth. 

Startled by the sudden strong reaction and unwilling to spook him anymore than he already had, Sportacus quickly filled the stallion’s trough and got out of his sight. 

Milford was in the first stall brushing a dappled mare named Lilliana when Sportacus made his retreat. “Oh my,” He muttered, shaking his head. “I forgot to warn you. Brighteyes doesn’t like anyone but Stephanie. He behaves for kids just fine but won’t let any adults handle him past leading him to and from the pasture. He didn’t bite you, did he?” 

"No, I’m alright.” 

“Oh good!” Milford beamed, obviously faking to keep Lilliana calm since Brighteyes’ aggressive behavior had made the rest of the herd nervous. 

_Safe in box. Scared by nothing. Stupid stallion._ The mare supplied, making it clear she had no affection for the friesian. 

The rest of the horses shared a similar opinion when they realized the source of the scare was just Brighteyes’ having a fit. They all calmed, allowing themselves to be brushed while they ate before being led outside. All but Brighteyes’, who was let out with no lead and no brushing. He would be left for Stephanie to handle when she got home. 

“Is that safe?” Sportacus felt the need to ask. 

“He likes Stephanie.” Milford shrugged, then sighed heavily. “I think he was abused. He just showed up a few years ago, too skinny, fur falling out. What hair he did have was covered in burs and I swear he looked like he’d rolled in thorns and mud. We must have pulled hundreds of ticks out of him.” The man continued, showing the Elf how to shovel out the manure and old hay. “I would have put him down but Stephanie wouldn’t have it. She was adamant that there was always a way and she found one. He tolerates the children that come here but I think Stephanie is the only one he actually likes so he’s her responsibility now.” 

Sportacus nodded thoughtfully as he got to work on another stall. Abuse would certainly explain the stallion’s extreme behavior. Clearly someone had done wrong by him, most likely another elf. 

Stephanie also joined in the work once she got home from school. She was a very opinionated girl, but overall nice. He decided after meeting her that he liked Stephanie as well. It was easy to see why the ornery stallion liked her. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie has a bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate the fact that my brain's response to writer's block is just to make new AUs.

The more Sportacus worked at the ranch, the more oddities he noticed about Brighteyes. The other horses spoke in fragments, as most animals didn’t have the patience for grammar. Brighteyes ‘talked’ just as people did.

Another strange thing was the fact that Brighteyes would look around before his ears turned to listen, whereas most horses reacted with their ears before their eyes. He wondered briefly if the stallion was deaf. That explanation was debunked, however, as the horse understood when Sportacus spoke to him; He understood perhaps a little too well. Horses were smart but Brighteyes was a genius!

With his genius came several complications. Most horses were content to do as they were trained to, but Brighteyes was smart enough to question why he had to do anything at all. 

_Put a saddle on and let people ride around on **your** back and see how long you like it._ Brighteyes snorted at Milford once while the balding man chased him around with a saddle blanket. 

Sportacus would have tacked him but while Brighteyes tolerated Milford, he openly _hated_ the Elf. It only took a few days for Sportacus to realize that it was _because_ of him being an Elf. Thinking back to Milford’s assumption, Sportacus couldn’t help but wonder if Brighteyes’ previous owner had been an Elf.

“Oh will you behave? Stephanie had a bad day at school and she’s going to want to ride you when she gets home.” Milford huffed at the horse. 

_Stephanie shouldn’t be sad. I’ll kick someone._ Brighteyes warbled lowly and immediately stopped his fussing, though his ears still pointed backward in anger. 

“Stephanie had a bad day?” Sportacus blurted out, then went back to his task of cleaning out a palomino mare’s hoof. “Sorry, I shouldn’t pry.”

 _You stay away from my girl, Elf._ Brighteyes warned, and Sportacus could do nothing to answer him with his employer so close.

“Oh it’s alright. You can be concerned.” Milford assured. “The school called. Some of the other kids were picking on her.”

“That’s awful!” Sportacus knew children could be cruel but saw no reason why Stephanie would be a target to others. She was such a friendly soul.

“I know.” Milford sighed. “Once I get Brighteyes all set for her to ride I’m going to pick her up.”

“I could pick her up, if you like.” Sportacus offered. “It could save time.”

_Like hell you will._

Before Milford could answer the other man, Brighteyes shot out of the stable, leaping over the fence and veering right to follow the road. He hadn’t even been properly bridled yet and his lead trailed behind him. Both men watched him go in shock for a moment before they realized what had happened.

“I’ll go catch him!” Sportacus called and vaulted over the fence in pursuit of the runaway horse. He was certain he could match the other’s speed at least and keep pace until the equine got tired. He was surprised when he realized that Brighteyes was headed directly toward the busier part of town. “Where are you going?”

 _Stephanie… school…_ The horse answered between labored breath, then made an effort to kick out at the Elf. _Go away!_

The hard hoof only grazed Sportacus’s hip, but it was still enough to hurt and caused him to fall behind. He was sure to have a bruise later. 

“A horse can’t check a girl out of school. You have to sign things to do that.” Sportacus tried to explain once he had caught up again, knowing a horse wouldn’t understand but still feeling the need to try to reason with the animal.

To his surprise, Brighteyes did slow after hearing that. He stopped as soon as his momentum would allow it. Sportacus stopped as well, curious. 

_I know._ Brighteyes said solemnly. _I know I can’t._

“You understood.” Sportacus observed aloud.

 _I’m not stupid, Elf._ Brighteyes snorted.

“I never said you were stupid. I’ve just never met a horse that knew-”

 _I’m not a horse!_ Brighteyes corrected, stomping in the Elf’s direction and tossing his head angrily. _Don’t you recognize your own magic?_

Sportacus was even more confused than ever now. It could wait, he decided. Stephanie was a priority. They walked the rest of the way to the school with no more fussing.

Stephanie got to ride Brighteyes home after her uncle called to let Sportacus sign her out. Her eyes were puffy and it was clear she had been crying earlier, but the sight of her ‘horse’ had cheered her quite a bit. The three of them made a slow pace since Brighteyes was unable to run after his earlier mad sprint.

“Stephanie, what happened?” Sportacus asked. He couldn’t help if he didn’t know what was wrong.

“Nothing.” She answered hollowly.

 _Don’t push._ The false horse warned, swatting the Elf with his tail.

Sportacus ignored him. “I’m a good listener.”

_I’ll step on you._

“The other kids said I’m bossy and annoying.” Stephanie huffed, trying to play it off as a mild annoyance even as tears returned to her eyes. It clearly hurt her. “They said that’s why my dad left.”

 _I never left you._ Brighteyes nickered softly.

Sportacus nearly tripped, which would have been bad considering the threat he’d been issued not ten seconds earlier. He already had too many questions to count and the walk home was just adding to that.

“I’m sure he didn’t leave you.” Sportacus relayed.

“He’s not _here_. How would you know, anyway.” Stephanie pointed out, growing defensive.

“Well it wasn’t _because_ of you.” Sportacus tried again. “Maybe something happened.”

Stephanie was quiet for the few minutes it took to get back to the ranch and Sportacus worried he had said the wrong thing. The girl spent the next few hours with her horse until she had to go inside to get her homework done.


End file.
